


The One Where Sam Has Wings

by sgtbuckaroobarnes



Series: SamBucky Ficlets [19]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky gets shot, Bucky loves them, M/M, Misunderstandings, Sam Wilson Has Wings, Shy Bucky Barnes, Wings, Winter Falcon, everything works out no worries, he's okay I promise, like actual real ones and they're beautiful, sambucky - Freeform, sort of grumpy sam, wounded bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-02-28
Packaged: 2018-09-27 14:13:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10024307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgtbuckaroobarnes/pseuds/sgtbuckaroobarnes
Summary: Sam has actual wings. Bucky thinks they're the most beautiful things he's ever seen and can't keep his eyes off them. But Sam doesn't like when people stare, and Bucky is too shy to actually speak to him, so Sam is grumpy until he finally realizes why Bucky is staring.





	

The first thing Bucky noticed when he met Sam the first time was his wings. Actually, if he was being honest with himself, the first thing he’d noticed was his eyes, and the crooked slant of his smile as he held his hand out for Bucky to shake. Bucky had cleared his throat awkwardly and held his own hand out, staring at the ground until Sam let go. And then he’d noticed the wings. He’d furrowed his brow and leaned to the side a little without thinking, trying to see them better.

They were tipped dark brown, the feathers leading up toward Sam’s back lightening until they were white with little dark and light brown spots covering them like constellations of stars. Bucky could see that they were darkest where they met Sam’s shoulder, he wanted to walk behind Sam to see what the outer feathers looked like, he was sure they were just as beautiful as the insides, and then his thoughts were interrupted by Sam clearing his throat. Bucky snapped his eyes away from Sam wings, seeing the look Sam was giving him he dropped his eyes to the ground and then let Steve lead him away to make more introduction.

Pretty much every interaction he’d had with Sam was either the same, or worse than that first one. Bucky just couldn’t keep his off of Sam’s wings. He didn’t know what it was, they were hypnotizing. He’d walked into the living room once and seen Sam spread out on the couch, lying on his stomach, his wings spread wide, the tips nearly spreading to touch each wall. Bucky had bit into his lip hard to keep from gasping. He’d never seen anything so goddamn beautiful in all his life. His fingers itched to touch, to move gently over those perfect feathers and just, _feel_. But he couldn’t do that. He kept getting the feeling that Sam didn’t like him very much. So he clenched his fists and backed out of the room slowly.

About a month after that Sam saved his life.

He’d been on a mission for shield, and it was supposed to be simple. But something had gone wrong and he’d ended up on the roof with no way down. Sam’s voice had come over the coms, he’d told Bucky to jump. And Bucky, being the love struck idiot he was, hadn’t even hesitated, he’d thrown himself off the roof immediately without a second thought. He fell for maybe half a second and then they’re were arms around his chest, wrapped under his arms, holding him tight as he was pulled upwards, into the night sky.

The air had been knocked out of him when Sam collided with him. He stared down at the lights beneath them as Sam carried him to safety, listening to Sam’s wings pushing them through the air and trying his best not to look up at them. Sam carried him to a safe spot and then set him down gently, landing behind him with a thud. Bucky turned to look at him and gave him a small smile, Sam smiled back and then stretched his wings out behind him, shaking the left one a little like he shaking water off of it.

Bucky’s eyes were immediately drawn to it. And he knew he was staring, and he knew Sam didn’t like that, but he couldn’t seem to fucking pull his eyes away. Sam cleared his throat. Bucky looked to his face quickly, his own eyes wide, and saw that Sam was frowning at him, again. Bucky dropped his eyes to the ground and cleared his own throat, it felt like Sam was always frowning at him, he didn’t like it. It made his chest tight. But he knew it was his own fault, if he could just stop staring at the wings he thought the frowning might stop. But he’d been unsuccessful at that so far.

He thought he heard Sam take a breath, like he was going to say something and then the others pulled into the field to pick them up and take them back to shield. Bucky had gotten what they wanted, even if getting out had been a little tricky. Steve ran over and pressed his hand against Bucky’s shoulder hard.

“Jesus Buck, let’s get you home and taken care of.” Steve said, his voice seemed far away. Bucky pulled his eyes away from the ground slowly.

“What?” he asked, his head felt fuzzy.

“You’re bleeding, a lot.” Steve said, and he looked worried, it was never good when he looked worried. Bucky looked down at his right shoulder and saw the hole in his jacket, he held his hand up and saw that there was blood flowing down his arm, filling his sleeve, his hand was dripping and covered in blood. He moved his fingers slowly in front of his face and then looked back to Steve, laughing through his nose gently.

“Huh. I didn’t even feel that.” He said, his voice going breathy, the last thing he remembered were strong hands at his back, hands that weren’t Steve’s, catching him as he fell into darkness.

~***~

He woke up three days later in a hospital bed. He blinked hard a few times, the lights swimming in his tired eyes, pain shooting through his shoulder as he tried to sit up, he relaxed again and let his head fall sideways and saw Sam sitting in the chair next to him. He was asleep. One wing tucked into the chair next to him and the other pulled in front of him like a makeshift blanket.

The pain in Bucky’s shoulder faded as he stared at Sam’s wing. It was stretched across his body, the feathers splayed out, showing all the colors, they were dark brown on the outside, with lighter brown speckles and light stripes running across them, the lighter under feathers showing through in the spaces between them. Bucky had that urge to touch again, his fingers twitching against the blanket covering him. He smiled to himself, his eyes feeling heavy, and then Sam moved in his chair and he dropped his eyes shut quickly. He heard Sam stand up slowly, his back popping from sitting too long in the terrible plastic chair. Then he felt Sam’s fingers on his wrist.

They pressed gently against his skin for a brief moment, there and gone in an instant.

“I’ll pretend that I didn’t just catch you doing that again.” Sam’s said, his voice low, sounding amused. Bucky wanted to squirm in his bed at the tease, but stayed still.

“I’m glad you’re awake.” He said, then Bucky heard the door open and close. He opened his eyes and Sam was gone. Bucky sighed and looked up at the ceiling, the pain in his shoulder edging back in. Bucky closed his eyes and tried to remember what Sam’s skin felt like against his.

~***~

A few days later Bucky was out of bed and walking around the tower. They’d finally let him leave the med wing when he’d threatened to pull his IV out on his own. He wouldn’t have actually done it. He always hated when people did that in movies. But he wanted out, he was getting restless. So Dr. Cho had let him go but made him promise to at least come and see her once a day for a while. He’d agreed and then nearly ran out the door.

He walked out on the balcony and took a deep breath. He missed fresh air. He was looking out over the city when he heard the sound of rustling wings. He turned around slowly and gasped. Sam landed a few yards away, his wings spread out behind him. The sun shining behind him made him glow. Bucky would swear that he had a damn halo above his head for a second there. He shoved his hands into his pockets but kept staring.

“Hey.” Sam said, shaking his wings out before tucking them up against his back. Bucky swallowed hard and opened his mouth, he’d meant to say ‘hey’ back but that’s not what came out.

“You look like an angel.” He breathed quietly. Sam’s eyes snapped to his and his forehead did that angry crease thing it did when he was mad, mostly when people said things about his wings.

“Sorry. I didn’t- I didn’t mean to.” Bucky said in a rush, his eyes wide as Sam stared at him. Bucky ducked back through the door before Sam could yell at him. He pushed into his room and closed the door before falling onto his bed with a frustrated sigh.

“You’re a fucking idiot.” He said to himself, covering his eyes with his arm and eventually drifting off to sleep.

~***~

Sam was staring at him.

He’d walked into the kitchen to get some food and found Sam sitting at the table, drinking some orange juice and reading the paper. He’d set the paper down when Bucky came in and had been watching him move around the kitchen for almost ten minutes. Bucky was waiting for his bagel to pop up, forcing his eyes to stay on the toaster, forcing himself not to look at Sam, his fingers started drumming nervously as he waited.

“Bucky. Look at me.” Sam said, Bucky jumped, his shoulder bunching as he grimaced. He took a deep breath and turned around slowly, willing his eyes to stay off Sam’s wings before he even came into view.

“Hey.” Sam said once Bucky was facing him.

“Hey.” Bucky said back, keeping his eyes glued to Sam’s glass of orange juice. He head Sam chuckled and then he heard that all too familiar sound of wings rustling and his eyes moved up without his consent. The sun was shining through the window behind him and he had that glow again. Sam spread his wings wide and then dropped them back down. When Bucky pulled his eyes off of the wings and forced himself to look at Sam’s face, he saw that he was smiling. Bucky furrowed his brow and then jumped again when the toaster went off behind him.

“S-sorry.” He stammered and then turned around quickly and threw the slices onto his plate, grabbing the cream cheese and spreading it with a shaking hand. He felt Sam walking closer. His chest tightening more with every step he heard Sam take.

“You don’t stare because you think they’re weird do you?” Sam asked quietly, his voice soft. Bucky snapped his eyes to Sam, turning his head so fast his neck popped.

“No. I don’t think they’re weird at all.” Bucky said, he heard the defensive edge to his voice but he couldn’t help it. He could never think Sam’s wings were weird. Sam nodded.

“You like ‘em huh?” he asked, his lips curving a little into that crooked smile. Bucky nodded and bit his lip.

“Yeah. I- I think they’re beautiful.” Bucky said, looking at Sam through his lashes. Sam’s smile widened as he looked at Bucky. Bucky felt heat run through his body and he had to look away.

“You wanna touch ‘em?” Sam asked. Bucky took a deep shaky breath and looked at him again.

“I- really?” he asked, his mouth feeling dry. Sam nodded again.

“Really.” He said, and then turned his back to Bucky so that Bucky found himself with a face full of wings.

He gulped and reached out slowly. His finger tips barely brushing against Sam’s feathers at first, Sam shivered and took a step back. Bucky turned his hand and gently stroked down Sam’s wings with the back of his fingers. Sam sighed loudly and his wings twitched under Bucky’s fingers.

“Is that okay?” Bucky asked. Sam turned around again, looking at Bucky with a soft smile, Bucky swallowed hard.

“It’s perfect.” Sam whispered, moving closer to Bucky.

“Ya know, I thought you were staring because you thought it was weird that I had wings.” Sam said slowly, moving his hands to Bucky’s wrists.

“But you weren’t. You were staring because you liked them. And now I feel like an idiot.” Sam said, laughing though his nose as he moved his hands up Bucky’s arms.

“You’re not an idiot.” Bucky whispered, watching Sam’s hands move up his arms and shivering at the feel of Sam’s skin against his.

“Thanks. But I am sorry I was being so grumpy.” Sam said, giving Bucky’s biceps a squeeze, Bucky felt himself sway forward.

“It’s okay. You don’t like people staring. I understand.” Bucky said, giving Sam a small smile. Sam returned the smile.

“Yeah. But you were staring for a good reason. Not a bad one.” Sam said with a shrug, one of his wings moved with his shoulder and Bucky’s eyes moved to it.

“You really can’t help looking can you?” Sam said with a chuckle. Bucky moved his eyes back to Sam’s face quickly and then shook his head, heat filling his cheeks.

“That’s okay. Look all you want.” Sam said, moving his hand up to rest on Bucky’s neck.

“Re- are you sure. I thought you didn’t like it.” Bucky said, his brow furrowing again. Sam moved his hand and smoothed Bucky’s forehead with his thumb before moving his hand back down to his neck.

“I don’t like it when people stare because they think it’s weird. You stare because you like it. Because you can’t seem to help yourself. Which is a relief by the way.” Sam said, moving closer again, they were inches apart now and Bucky wasn’t sure how he was actually breathing anymore.

“Why-“ he cut off, his throat dry and scratchy. He cleared it and tried again.

“Why is it a relief?” he asked, his eyes moving from Sam’s eyes to his lips and then back again. Sam smiled.

“Because, half the reason I was so grumpy was because I thought the guy I was crushing on thought I was a freak.” Sam said, moving closer still.

“Turns out he just literally can’t keep his eyes off me. So yeah, I’m relieved.” Sam said, Bucky breathed in and parted his lips a little, not sure if he was going to say something or not. But it didn’t really matter. Sam pushed forward and pressed his lips to Bucky’s gently, pushing his fingers up into Bucky’s hair and holding him close. Bucky sighed into the kiss and moved his hands to Sam’s hips. Sam moved his tongue along Bucky’s bottom lip and then pulled back, smiling at him when Bucky blinked at him slowly.

“You have a crush on me?” Bucky breathed, his hands shaking against Sam. Sam laughed, throwing his head back for a second before looking back to Bucky and nodding.

“Yep. Still do. How lucky are you?” Sam teased, bumping their noses together and smiling. Bucky stared at him. The smile on Sam’s face softened as he stared back.

“Really lucky I think.” Bucky said seriously, biting his lip gently again before Sam pulled him into another kiss, his wings wrapping around them both and pulling Bucky closer. The kiss was just as gentle as the first, and Bucky felt his knees shake at the thought that it wouldn’t be the last.

**Author's Note:**

> listen, i know i need to be writing other things, i know i need to update my serial killer fic, okay i KNOW this. but just listen....this happened first. i'm so sorry!!! but all i could see was Sam with wings and bucky being smitten and it demanded to be written! so i hope you like it!!!!! Enjoy my loves! <3


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